Getting started on your novel with Andrew Miller

Author Andrew Miller at home in Somerset. Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith

Writing a novel is the process of distilling the big idea in your head into the reality of words on a page. No-one knows this better than Andrew Miller, an author whose breathtaking ideas saw his latest novel, Pure, win the Costa Prize in 2012. On this informal weekend course, Andrew will guide you over the pitfalls of starting your novel, helping you to cut through the confusion to define what's important to do at this stage and what isn't. You'll also learn how to to establish tailor-made working methods that suit your needs, abilities and lifestyle.

By studying the very different working methods of well-known writers past and present, you'll gain an understanding of different ways to approach the essentials of the writing process, including research, planning and editing, enabling you to express yourself with confidence.

This course is for you if…

You have an inspiring idea for a novel or short story but don't know how to start writing it

You have a long standing ambition to write a novel but find the writing process intimidating

You'd like to write for your own entertainment and would like tips on accessing your creative side with confidence

Course description

This is a lively, inclusive course offering practical support and encouragement for new novelists. Through a series of talks, discussions and plentiful practical exercises, you'll learn to engage with the creative process and establish your own productive working practices. There will be detailed sessions on the following topics:

How to approach a new project

Planning how to tackle it

How and where to research your novel

The rules you should know

To edit or not to edit?

What to look for in a first draft

Tutor profile

Andrew Miller is the author of six novels. His first novel, Ingenious Pain, was published by Sceptre in 1997 and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Grinzane Cavour prize in Italy. His last novel, Pure, won the 2012 Costa Book of the Year. He is an experienced tutor and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.